The Celestial Brush
by frosty wonder ice
Summary: AU KuroFai In his quest to aid Princess Tomoyo to restore the lands of curses, Kurogane begrudgingly makes allies along the way and maybe there is something more to the mage that randomly appears with helpful advice.
1. Chapter 1

Standard Disclaimer: Nothing is mine. =)

This is a crossover of Okami (video game) and TRC, and it follows the storyline of Okami with some alterations. It starts after the death of Orochi, which means a lot of events have already taken place, but, for those not familiar with Okami, everything that needs to be will be explained in good time.

-o-o-o-o-

_Present, Ryoshima Coast_

The barren soil beneath his feet hummed as blossoms erupted and spread across the mountainside in a wave of green life. Tree sprouts broke through the hard ground and grew abnormally fast until they stretched and touched the sky. The darkness that clung to the land grew weak against the powerful spell until it dissipated entirely and the villagers and animals that were trapped inside its curse were freed from their stone prisons to breathe fresh air once more. The mountainside which had been dry and crumbling only moments before was now lush and blooming, replacing the quiet deadness with sounds of activity and being.

As the sharp smell of flowers met his nose, Kurogane realized that he never grew tired of seeing this rebirth. He watched with satisfaction as the stone-statues-turned-villagers gathered around Princess Tomoyo to thank her for freeing them of the curse. Behind her, a large cherry tree stood in full blossom and, as the wind blew gently through its branches, Kurogane was reminded of his home in Kamiki which was also protected by a powerful cherry tree – the mother, in fact, to the one Tomoyo had just restored.

"It is nice to see that Sakura's reach has stretched this far."

Kurogane looked down with a smirk at the princess who had moved to his side. She smiled at him before holding out her hand to catch a falling petal.

"I would not have been able to revive this land without the help or power of her sapling," Tomoyo said softly, closing her fingers around the petal and pulling it close to her chest. "I can feel it. We are getting close to freeing all people of Orochi's curse."

A sour look crossed Kurogane's face at the mention of the beast's name and he grumbled, "Even in death, that monster…"

"I can also feel," Tomoyo continued, "that he will not be the last to strike at us. There is another, very close to here, that wishes to bring harm to the people of this land."

Kurogane showed no surprise at this. He, too, felt the oppressive darkness that still hung quietly in the air. Most of his subordinates attributed the pressure of evil to the demonic gates that had withstood Tomoyo's revival spell – gates that opened the path between the living and the dead. Kurogane, however, had been present at the Moon Cave when Sorata delivered the killing strike to Orochi and amid the beast's death a strange, malevolent power had fled into the night sky. It was a tingling of that power that Kurogane felt at all times, like a bad taste that refused to leave his mouth.

"Yeah, I know," Kurogane murmured in response, and then lifted a hand as though to wave away the topic. He gave the princess a determined look. "Where are we headed to now? The City?"

The uneasy expression on Tomoyo's face disappeared immediately and she smiled slyly at Kurogane. "Well, about that… Souma-san thinks it would be best if only a small group of us entered Sei'an City. Because your social skills leave much to be desired, you will stay behind with your men to assist this village with any oni lurking about the seaside."

"What?" Kurogane ran to catch up with the princess, as she had walked off during her explanation. "I am _not_ sitting on this beach to babysit the villagers. Besides," he huffed, "you _need_ me – you need the _brush_."

"It is true that the abilities you have gained through the celestial brush and the hidden scrolls are more than helpful, but Sei'an City is in a delicate situation. It is rumored that the Emperor has imprisoned Kaguya of the Moon and is refusing to release her. Kurogane, this particular task will take much finesse." She again turned her kind smile toward the ninja. "I also believe that you will enjoy yourself more here than trapped inside the palace."

Kurogane was tempted to point out that _Souma_ had about as much _finesse_ as a bagged cat. "Enjoy myself? By doing what? The only threat that remains here are the demon scrolls and _maybe_ a gate, both of which can be handled by any foot soldier with passable skills."

Tomoyo bowed her head at this, an amused, secretive smile on her face.

"What is it?" Kurogane demanded. "Did you have a dream?"

Rather than answer, Tomoyo paused in their walk to face the ocean spread out beside them. Kurogane followed her gaze and in the distance he could see the broken masts of a shipping vessel rising from the water. He vaguely remembered hearing rumor of a great and powerful water dragon that had gone mad from Orochi's curse, destroying anything and anyone who entered its ocean. Tomoyo stared at the sunken ship sadly.

"You are needed here, Kurogane," she said finally, and with one last, kind smile she moved to where Souma and her attendants were waiting.

Kurogane watched Tomoyo go, wanting to protest more but knowing it would be pointless. Souma could protect the princess, and Kurogane trusted no one but her to take care of Tomoyo in his place, but that didn't mean he enjoyed being left behind like a useless old dog, despite Tomoyo's indication that the seaside was still in danger of an unknown menace.

When Tomoyo's small group on its way to Sei'an City finally disappeared from sight, Kurogane decided to get a start on splitting his men into units to comb the beach for any remaining demons. He had noticed a shrine at the highest point of the small, seaside village earlier and figured it the optimal location for setting up camp. It gave a clear view of the beach below and even the trees farther up shore, and its high walls provided good defense in case of attack.

If something was threatening Ryoshima coast, he wasn't going to be caught unaware.

-o-o-o-o-

The sticky-wet air coming off the ocean made the heat of the sun ten times worse. Most of Kurogane's men had taken to hiding in what little shade they could find around the shrine during the hottest parts of the day, and Kurogane himself wasn't eager to trek down to the coast. Not to mention, most of the demons along the beach were protected by blazing halos of fire; being caught with them in the barrier rings created by the cursed scrolls a couple times a day was more than enough to zap the strength of even his toughest soldiers.

But that was why there were here.

With a scowl, Kurogane stuffed his bag with sufficient rations of food to last him a couple of nights. He wondered how Souma and the princess were doing, and if they had arrived at Sei'an City yet. In the heat, he couldn't imagine them traveling far, but they had already been gone for three days. Kurogane and his men had barely moved down the coast, finding more cursed scrolls than Kurogane originally expected. They had even crossed upon a demon lair with a spider queen (always unpleasant).

Once he finished packing, Kurogane made way to the front of the shrine, stopping by one of his napping captains at the entrance who was supposed to be keeping guard.

"Oi," Kurogane growled, jabbing at the captain with the tip of his boot. The soldier looked lazily up at him and then jumped to attention upon realizing who he was. Kurogane glared but it was too hot to yell at the man. "I'm going on ahead. Pack up and move out this evening. The demon scrolls are more active at night anyway."

"Yes sir!"

Kurogane looked down the hillside that the shrine sat upon. In the distance he could still see the sunken ship and the open beach along the coastline. He pointed to the trees at the top of the beach. "Stop at the edge of the trees for a day and I'll meet up with you there. If I don't show, just keep pushing on until you reach the gates of Sei'an City."

"Yes sir!" the captain acknowledged with a quick bow.

With one last firm glare at the drowsy captain, Kurogane started his hike down to the coast.

-o-o-o-o-

"And that's the best place to see the ship from?"

"I suppose, but the thing is awfully high and older than anyone I know. It'd probably crumble out from under you." The fisherman scratched the back of his neck with a frown. "If you got up there, I bet you could see pretty far, but that's the biggest problem. Getting up there, I mean. No one's ever been up there, far as I know."

Kurogane grunted and studied the lookout platform at the end of the small peninsula. It did indeed look old and brittle. He mumbled his thanks to the fisherman and began walking to it. He needed a high place to look across the ocean. From the beach he could see the masts and even the top cabin of the sunken ship, but the water, despite being as clear as it was, obscured all else.

An annoyance grew in Kurogane as he got closer to the platform. It was definitely going to be too high for him to reach and it would be a pain to drag something tall enough to reach it across the beach and down the peninsula. The platform sat atop a single, thick column and was more than twice as tall as him. The peninsula itself provided a bit of height, allowing him to see the rest of the ship touching the ocean floor, but it was still too bad of an angle to get a good look and there appeared to be something on the ocean floor around the ship.

Lifting a foot, Kurogane gave the column under the platform a strong shove. Surprisingly, the old wood, though creaky, was solid. Kurogane stepped back from the column and looked up again at the platform, squinting against the sun.

Only to see another person staring down at him.

"Gaaah!"

Kurogane lost his footing on the uneven, muddy surface of the peninsula as he automatically backed up in surprise. He fell embarrassingly on his backside, as his hands had gone for the sword hanging at his side out of reflex, and his head hit the ground from the force of it all, only saved from severe injury by the soft dirt and grass.

With the wind knocked out of him and a rapidly growing headache, Kurogane gasped up at the calm, blue sky, his ears ringing and head spinning. As the ringing faded, he could hear gentle laughter floating down from the platform – laughter that was easy enough to recognize. He rolled to his side and craned his neck to see the top of the platform. "Not _you_ again."

Amused blue eyes met his heated red glare.

"I thought I told you to quit following me, stupid mage!" he growled and angrily got to his feet.

The other gave one last shudder of laughter and then lowered his hand to reveal a bright, wide smile. "I'm sorry, Kuropon. I didn't mean to startle you, eh heh heh."

Kurogane could feel his face heating up (wounded pride) and did his best to ignore it – and to ignore the loathsome nickname (fighting a losing battle) and to ignore the fact that he could mostly see up the other's short, kimono-like outfit (the man had no shame).

"How the hell did you get up there anyway?"

"Up here?" The magic user motioned to the platform under his feet and then dropped so that he was sitting on the edge, swinging his legs like a child and making the small bell bracelets around his ankles chime. "I jumped."

"Bullshit."

If possible, the smile widened. "Kurorin doesn't believe me? But I am a good jumper. I'll show you."

"Oi! What-!" Kurogane's gut twisted as he watched the mage suddenly push off the side of the platform and he darted forward to catch the idiot. Instinctively, he braced for impact.

However, instead of landing abruptly in his arms, the mage's descent mysteriously slowed upon reaching Kurogane as though floating down instead of falling. The mage gently placed hands on the bewildered warrior's shoulders and Kurogane, blinking in wonder, unconsciously folded his arms around the mage's waist. Even more to his astonishment, he could not feel the _weight_ or _warmth_ of the mage despite firmly feeling the young man's cool body under his arms and against his chest, like a tangible apparition.

"Thank you for catching me," the magic user murmured. "Kurotan is such a gentleman."

The words broke Kurogane out of his shock and, remembering a similar situation in Agata Forest where the mage had hovered a few centimeters above the lake, he loosed his hold and the mage dropped to the ground. Rather than stumbling as Kurogane had, the mage nimbly gained footing on the sodden earth.

"You're using magic then," Kurogane snapped.

The mage smiled. "Of course! Won't you?"

Kurogane scoffed. "As if I know magic."

"You don't?" The mage tilted his head to one side, confused. "You used magic in your fight against me…?"

"That wasn't magic. That was _summoning_ using paint and scrolls," Kurogane corrected. His eyebrow twitched as he remembered the mage attacking their convoy, himself specifically, in Agata Forest under the guise of testing their will to fight the beast Orochi – and attacking again in Taka Pass to test his "new fighting strength." Kurogane figured it all for lies, but there had been no attacking since and Princess Tomoyo seemed fond of the magic user.

"Summoning is a form of magic, Kuropii," the mage giggled, "and I was referring to the attack you used with your sword. _That_ is definitely magic."

"Che, that's different," Kurogane snipped as he turned his gaze away, reluctant to be compliant with the fool.

The soft sound of bells and the mage was again in his personal space. "I can teach you," came the murmur and Kurogane felt a tug on the fabric of his hakama. He turned to frown down at the mage but quickly whipped his head back around to the ocean when he was met with too large, too close blue eyes. "The magic to get up there," the mage continued, "I can teach it to you."

Uncomfortable, Kurogane shrugged off the magic user's hand. He felt a crisp, unnatural cold where their skin touched and it sent an eerie chill through his body. From the corner of his eye he could see a sad smile on the mage's face, but when he turned to face the other completely, it was replaced with the regular wide grin.

"Or you could just ask the sensei to teach you~!" the mage chirped brightly and pointed to his left.

Kurogane's eyes narrowed on the mage as he searched for any sign of the brief melancholy but when he was still met with the fake grin, he finally relented and looked in the direction the mage was pointing. Far down the flat stretch of beach he could see an island a short distance from the shoreline. If he looked real hard he could barely make out some sort of structure on the island. A house, maybe?

"Who is this sensei?" Kurogane asked dubiously. He waited for a moment but when he received no response he made to face the mage again. "Hey, I asked-…"

The sly magic user had disappeared.

Kurogane searched all around, even back up at the platform, but quickly found that he was alone again.

"That brat," he grumbled and glared at the island that was at least half a day's walk away from the peninsula. If he went, it would be doing as the mage suggested, but his only other option was making a tall enough ladder out of who knew what since the grove of trees he sent his men to was even farther away than half a day. He heaved a jaded sigh. "Ahh, dammit."

-o-o-o-o-

The island was hardly a "short distance" from the shoreline as Kurogane originally believed, but this wasn't much of a problem. He dug in his pack to find the thin length of fabric he used to tie back the sleeves of his kimono. As he did so, the godly markings winding along his arms came into view. Removing the celestial brush from the waistline of his hakama, Kurogane stepped up to the water's edge, ready to perform the brush spells he had learned from the sacred scrolls.

With a large sweeping motion, Kurogane made as though he was painting a circle on top of the lapping waves. The godly markings began to glow red and the water bubbled until a giant lily pad began to form from the foam. When the last of the bubbles disappeared into the waves, Kurogane tentatively stepped onto the magic-enhanced plant.

Again using a large circular motion, Kurogane this time painted against the sky. At first, there was a slight tickling against his back until it grew into a powerful wind that pushed the lily pad toward the island against the weak ocean breeze and the force of the waves. The island was far enough that he had to summon the wind more than once but this was a definite improvement over painting multiple lily pads and having to jump across them like stepping stones (a tedious technique he used before discovering the scroll of Kazegami, the equestrian god of wind, in the Gale Shrine at Kusa Village).

When he finally reached the island and hiked up its steep, muddy banks to the house, he felt his stomach turn. This place looked all too familiar, but it was impossible. It _had_ to be impossible. There was no way that torturous witch could be here, could she? The last time he had seen her was before he'd left with Sorata to fight Orochi.

"You're slow, Kurogane!"

Kurogane's eye twitched and he slowly turned to the distinct voice.

Yuuko, the evil witch herself, grinned mischievously back at him. "I felt that magic you used – absolutely pathetic! Have you been practicing at all?"

"You–! How did you manage to get here?" Kurogane demanded. "Weren't you cowering in that shack of yours back in Shinshu Field?"

"Don't be naïve," Yuuko laughed. She smirked at Kurogane's scowling expression. "As if my door opens to only one location. How foolish! Such is the way of my magic, my dear warrior."

Kurogane gripped the hilt of his sword subconsciously, irritated by the witch's conceit.

Yuuko wasn't the least bit fazed. "What bad manners you have, even after I taught you to use that sword before you pranced off to the Moon Cave. It must have been helpful, too, since you managed to defeat Orochi."

"Sorata defeated Orochi."

"Not all by himself," Yuuko said with a knowing smirk. "Your little brother may be responsible for killing Orochi's last head, but that was only after you defeated the seven others. And that wooden sword of his is useless without the moonlight your celestial brush can create."

"How do you know all that?" Kurogane didn't recall seeing the witch anywhere near the Moon Cave. If anything, everyone in Kamiki knew (or thought they knew) that she never left her home in Shinshu Field, a house that was identical the one in front of Kurogane now.

"You truly _are_ naïve, Kurogane," she chided. "I am aware of much more than you think. I even knew that your friend Sorata was responsible for Orochi's rebirth."

Kurogane startled at this. "Wha… How could you have…" The shock was quickly replaced by anger and he stomped toward the witch. "If you _knew_, then why didn't you tell me? Not even _Tomoyo_ knew that!"

"It's not my place to tell you," Yuuko replied evasively, and continued before Kurogane could yell at her again, "I'm not the only one, of course. Fai knew as well."

The mage's face flashed through Kurogane's mind and his eyes widened.

Yuuko's expression was one of secretive delight. "Oh? Are you surprised that I know him?"

"I shouldn't be," Kurogane snapped, his scowl having returned. "Not after all the bullshit you two have put me through. It only makes sense that you would be conspiring together."

"Not entirely correct, but amusing enough," Yuuko said with a laugh. "Now then, you've appeared in front of my doors because you want to reach someplace high, yes?"

This time, Kurogane didn't even bother being surprised. Magic existed, after all, for the sole purpose of torturing him.

-o-o-o-o-

This chapter had a lot of exposition in it. More KuroFai interaction in the next chapter and maybe some more action & adventure! What a snoozefest this first chapter is… ^_^


	2. Chapter 2

My apologies on the slow update.

If you read the first chapter from the initial posting, I have gone back edited a bit (mostly the end). Some things may be different now.

-o-o-o-o-

_Past, Kamiki Village_

He felt it before he saw it, the oppressive, evil weight of the curse.

Souma felt it, too, and she fell to her knees, gasping for breath and looking dazed. Her entire body shook, convulsing, and she reached a hand out meaning to grasp the hem of his hakama but she was already too weakened to even close her fist. Barely ten seconds had passed and already she was falling into an unconscious stupor.

"Souma!"

Kurogane grabbed his friend around the waist and pulled until she was back on her feet, but she couldn't hold her own weight and her head lolled on her shoulders. He knew the might of this curse was unusually intoxicating, drastically more so than anything he had felt before, but Souma was strong; how could she be crumbling so easily? He threw Souma over his shoulder and darted down the hall toward the princess's rooms. As he passed open doors, he could see attendants and his men all collapsed, some struggling to even stay awake.

"Princess!" Kurogane slid Tomoyo's door open with enough force that it crashed into the wall and cracked. Inside the room, Tomoyo stood near her window and when she turned shakily toward Kurogane, he saw that she had the sleeve of her kimono pulled over her face as though to keep out a bad stench.

"Kurogane, we must leave at once," she cried and took a step to him.

Before either of them could move any more, a roar like none other Kurogane had heard before broke through the silence of the halls, so loud and powerful that Kurogane dropped Souma in his instinctive attempt to cover his own ears, and it seem to echo off of every wall, shake every board. Tomoyo, too, tried to cover her ears and she cried out in pain when the roar sounded again. The latch holding open the thin board over her window fell loose under the shaking and the board slammed shut, its bang barely noticeable against the roars.

Tomoyo looked as though she were about to faint. "Kuro… gane…"

He was across the room in an instant and grabbed her before she could fall to the floor. Holding her closely to his chest, she gasped up at him with terrified eyes.

"W-we have to…" she began, but the air was growing thick as the full force curse began to filter into the room as a visible black cloud, making it difficult to breathe. "Sa… Sakura… G-go to…"

Kurogane understood immediately and dashed from the room, pausing only for a split second to grab Souma. The curse was starting to affect him as well, making his joints stiff and a haze settling in his mind that made it difficult to concentrate on holding both the princess and Souma at the same time as running in a determined direction. He was outside before he realized and the curse almost completely surrounded him. Inside the black cloud, the villagers that collapsed to the ground were unmoving; he couldn't even see them breathing.

"Sakura…" Tomoyo panted.

Kurogane turned to the mountainside that the great tree stood upon. He could see the branches of the tree, flowerless and leafless, being blown by a powerful wind.

The roar from before again cut through the silence of the village, shaking the very ground beneath Kurogane, and he fell to a knee, losing his grip on Souma as he did. Weakly, he made to grab her again, but the black cloud of the curse began to cover them and to his dismay Souma's body was turning to stone. Bewildered and angry, Kurogane still tried to pull her close protectively.

"No!" Tomoyo cried, stopping him. "Go t-to…!"

Hesitating for only a second at leaving Souma behind, Kurogane pushed to his feet and bolted through the village, trusting in Tomoyo. Tendrils of the curse seemed to wrap around his legs and he felt as though he were running through water but somehow he made it to the footpath that led up to the sakura tree. His lungs ached as he wheezed from the effort and his body was already soaked in sweat, but he continued up the path even as he felt his ears bust and bleed from another roar.

When he reached the stairs that led the rest of the way to the sakura, the wind that had blown the flowers from the tree hit him with such force that it knocked him off his feet and into the earthen wall of the mountainside. Even if the roaring hadn't busted his eardrums, he would have been deaf against the wind, the sound of which blocked out all else.

Choking and gasping for air, Kurogane fought against the wind to pick up Tomoyo, who was now unconscious and unmoving. The wind appeared to be keeping the cursed cloud from progressing up the mountain, so she had not yet turned to stone, but Kurogane knew he had to get her to the top soon. He practically crawled up the stairs, dragging Tomoyo with him.

Just as darkness blotted his vision, Kurogane arrived at the top of the stairs, and he fell, unconscious, through the torii, finally succumbing to the curse.

-o-o-o-o-

_Present, Ryoshima Coast_

…_Youou_…

Encased in warmth, he felt a thin hand tenderly slide over his forehead.

_It is time, Youou_.

The warmth was moving into him and his body burned with a familiar yet mysterious strength.

_We have waited for you, Youou, origin of all that is good and father to us all_.

Kurogane's awareness of his surroundings was abrupt, the ethereal haze of his dream replaced by the smooth rhythm of the ocean with such swiftness that it took him a good minute to realize that he was awake, on his back, and staring at the underside of a raised dais. As he blinked in wonder at the wooden object, he could hear the cries of seagulls flying overhead and they sounded as though they were laughing. It took another minute before Kurogane realized that he did indeed hear laughter but that it was coming from a much closer source.

"My, my, Kurogane," a highly amused feminine voiced called to him, "that was quite the fall. How graceful."

Kurogane sat up with the intention of glaring Yuuko into silence but seeing her knowing smirk made him look away in frustrated embarrassment. He remembered now; he was at the witch's home on Ryoshima Coast, trying to master a new technique under her tutelage. Unfortunately, the technique involved magic – something he lacked the innate power for – and, well, it was _under her tutelage_. He was pretty much doomed to failure even before coming to the island.

Scowling, he shoved himself to his feet and turned his glare on the platform Yuuko had created to mimic the one he wanted to reach. He was beginning to think life would just be easier riding a lily pad out to the sunken ship.

"Try it again," Yuuko ordered, as if detecting his doubt. "Honestly, Kurogane, after your first jump, just feel for the peak of the magic and use it to jump again. It isn't difficult."

Kurogane ground his teeth together to keep from shouting at the witch. He didn't know what she meant by "peak of the magic" and she wasn't being forthcoming with the hints.

Several more unsuccessful attempts (and many cuts and bruises) later, Yuuko finally grew tired of laughing at him. With an exhausted sigh, as though she were the one exerting all the effort toward a seemingly unreachable goal, she disappeared into her home to escape the heat of the sun, leaving Kurogane to practice on his own. Even without the audience, he couldn't effectively apply and control the magic necessary to reach the high platform and his irritation rapidly grew with each continued failure.

When he was on the verge of chopping down the platform altogether, Yuuko popped back outside with a bag in hand, the contents of which clinked and rattled so that Kurogane knew it was money. She held the small bag out for him to take. "Make yourself useful and fetch me some more mermaid coins."

"I'm not a _dog_," Kurogane snapped. "If you want something, go _fetch_ it yourself."

"As my _student_ you don't get to complain." The cunning smirk returned. "Or do you think you could have gotten this far using those weak brush techniques alone?"

Kurogane snatched the bag from her with a growl. "Where do you expect me to find mermaid coins, anyway?"

Yuuko had already turned back to the house and said dismissively over her shoulder, "I believe there was a merchant near the shrine bell."

"Whaaat? That's a two days hike from here! I don't have time to waste running your errands!"

"There is no rush. You can bring me the coins the next time you pass through here, or if you happen to return to Shinshu Field, as my door opens there as well."

"The next time I pass through here? What's that supposed to mean? What about learning this technique?" Kurogane demanded. "Aren't you supposed to be teaching it to me? Isn't that why you took all that gold from me – equal trade, was it?"

"By the time you pass in this direction again, Kurogane, you shouldn't need my help anymore – not with this, anyway." Yuuko paused in her doorway, grinning slyly. "You'll catch on soon enough."

"What? You–!"

"See you soon, Kurogane!"

With a wave, Yuuko again disappeared into her house, the door sliding shut behind her with a finality that made Kurogane's blood boil. The arrogance of that woman! He was half-tempted to throw the bag of coins at the closed door, but rather he spun on his heel and stomped to the edge of the island, seizing his own packed bag on the way.

"I should have left the moment I saw her," he fumed quietly, glaring at the water below. He removed the celestial brush from his bag and summoned a lily pad, his movement jerky due to his frustration. Once the plant fully formed, he slid down the muddy bank to where it floated, continuing to gripe, "Useless waste of my time. That evil witch doesn't eve– geeeeeh!"

Not having paid attention to his footing, Kurogane's forceful step onto the lily pad caused the giant leaf to skim across the water, away from him, and he fell with a great splash into the ocean. He kicked and thrashed his way back to the surface, coughing and choking on the salty water, and struggled to hold on to his belongings. With some difficulty, he managed to swim to the lily pad before the tide took it too far away and crawled, sputtering, onto its surface, half dragging it under water as he did so. He sat for a moment, huffing and soaked.

Then, "Daaaaammiiiiiit!"

Yuuko hoped he could hear her laughing.

-o-o-o-o-

The gentle sound of ocean water brushing against the shore would have been peaceful and relaxing if not for the pain-filled moans of trapped demons calling into the night. Kurogane watched apathetically as one such demon desperately tried to get its scroll closer to him but was unable to pull away from the scroll's barrier ring. It repeatedly paced in a circle and then lunged at Kurogane with a deep, growl-like moan before being pulled back by the curse, the green glow of the curse flaring.

With a disinterested snort, Kurogane stabbed at the dying embers of his campfire, pushing them into the deeper wet sand so that they hissed. His mood hadn't changed much from that afternoon and having to sleep on the open shoreline made him wary. He thought about how his men were doing, if they had made it to Sei'an City already; if they had, it would be an exciting return for them.

The group was a small force, mostly trained guards and some untrained but enthusiastic farmers. Before Orochi's revival at the Moon Cave in the ocean beyond Shinshu Field – and subsequent awakening of the demon scrolls – their only job was to watch Princess Tomoyo. Unlike Kurogane, Kamiki was not Tomoyo's native home; her dream-seeing led her to the village. Amaterasu, the Empress, remained in Sei'an City with her husband. Tomoyo would, no doubt, be happy to see her dear sister.

Kurogane remembered when Tomoyo first arrived in Kamiki, claiming that she was needed by the small village. He wondered if she already knew then of Orochi's coming rebirth, of his own bratty younger brother's role in the monster's fairy tale – of Kurogane's role, for that matter – or if she merely had a vague inkling of dread. Tomoyo hadn't seemed surprised by the sudden appearance of the red patterns along his arms when they both awoke, healed, at the base of the sakura tree.

Godly markings, the tree's spirit told him.

Kurogane lied back in the sand to stare at the cloudy sky above the beach and ocean. The gods were hidden in the stars and he speculated on how many of them were left. It was the gods who taught him the secrets to his celestial brush; it was the gods who called him _Youou_.

Kurogane's senses prickled and he sighed in annoyance. "I know you're there. Stop trying to sneak up on me, idiot."

He couldn't hear the footsteps in the sand, but he knew the mage was coming closer. There was a soft jingle of bells and then,

"Hyuu~! Kuropii caught me!"

Sitting up, Kurogane glared at the smiling blonde standing across the fire pit from him. The clouds blocked most of the moon and star light, but the mage glowed anyway: the metal bracelets around his wrists, the bell chains around his ankles, the small-jeweled rings on his fingers, and the thin necklaces tight around his neck all reflected light from an imperceptible source. Even his hair, eyes, and skin shimmered in the dark night.

_Magic_, Kurogane realized. Fai practically hummed with its power.

Kurogane pushed to his feet, absently brushing off sticky sand as he eyed Fai warily. "What do you want?"

Fai's smile didn't falter at his gruff tone. "Kurochi looked terrified, being all by himself in the dark. I'm your company!"

"What? Who's terrified?" Kurogane lunged at the mage, but was easily dodged. "That witch sent you, didn't she?"

Fai laughed and again slipped out of Kurogane's reach, his bells chiming mockingly. "Kurowanko is mistaken! Yuuko-sensei and I have never formally met." Fai's smiled turned secretive. "I've only _heard_ about her."

"Bullshit," Kurogane countered, but then conceded, "If you weren't sent here by her, then I repeat my earlier question,_ what do you want?_"

"And I repeat my earlier answer–"

"I'm not afraid of the dark!"

"–I'm here as Kurotan's company."

Kurogane quit his chase and glared silently at the smiling mage. Then, with a, annoyed, "Che," he turned his back on the other to face the ocean. "I don't need or want company, idiot."

"Kurosama is so manly!"

Kurogane ground his teeth at the taunt but didn't respond.

"Kurobun, Sei'an City is in the other direction. Why are you going this way?" Fai asked, and the bells chimed with each step closer to the irate warrior. "Are you going back to the coast by the shrine? You know the magic you want now?"

Growling, Kurogane's eyes narrowed at nothing in particular. "That witch didn't teach me a damn thing."

"Then why did you leave?"

"What's with all the questions? Are you planning something?"

"Hmm, I wonder~!" Fai chirped. "If I was, would Kurotango– eep!"

Having been listening to the bells, Kurogane knew when the mage was standing close behind him and spun quickly, managing to seize the other around the waist with one arm before an escape could be made. He pulled until the mage's back was flush against his chest and wrapped his free arm around the smaller body to secure a grip.

Similar to before, he could both feel the man in his arms and somehow also feel as though he were holding onto nothing at all. The hot, summer breeze coming off of the ocean hit his back, contrasting with the cool body held pressed to his front, and when Fai's hands settled on his own, skin touching skin, they were icy cold like before. Kurogane, despite himself, again shivered at the touch.

"Kuropip tricked me," Fai said quietly.

Feeling, but not giving in to, an odd urge to roll his eyes, Kurogane merely replied, "Only a fool would get caught so easily."

"And what are you going to do now that you have me?"

Kurogane didn't respond at first, considering the unusually sober tone in the mage's voice, but then simply responded, "Nothing," and loosened his grip, not fully letting go of the mage but allowing Fai the option of an effortless escape.

Instead of getting away, Fai only turned sideways, placing a cold hand on Kurogane's chest and leaning back so that he could look up at the warrior. His expression was unusually blank, almost serious.

"Why are you so cold?" Kurogane asked before he could stop himself.

Fai merely continued to stare at him. Then Fai turned fully and Kurogane gasped as the other icy hand slipped inside his kimono front and wrapped around to press against his back as Fai pushed up against him, hooking the previous hand under his arm and holding tightly to his shoulder. The mage nuzzled his face into Kurogane's shoulder.

Every hair on Kurogane's body stood on end.

"I'm not cold," Fai murmured, his breath like winter air against Kurogane's skin. He hugged Kurogane tighter. "Kuromyuu is just _so_ _warm_."

Kurogane could feel the chill down to his toes; he was _beyond_ uncomfortable with the embrace. As soon as his mind cleared from utter shock he instantly began backing away from the mage, trying to remove icy hands from his person. Fai moved with him, though, and clung like a barnacle. "Geeeh! Let go!"

"Kuromii went through all that trouble to catch me and now he's trying to get away?" Fai teased, tone now laughing rather than empty. It amazed Kurogane how fast he could change.

"You–!" Kurogane growled. "Let go already!"

"Okay!" To his surprise, Fai released him then, even dancing a few steps back. Fai smiled widely. "Good luck, Kuropan!"

Kurogane didn't have time to demand what the mage meant. A barrier wall was rapidly growing between them and Kurogane whipped around to see that he had stepped within the cursed ring of the demon scroll he'd been watching earlier that night. The curse unfurled and the demon trapped within the scroll began to take shape.

"Why you–!" Kurogane started to shout at the smiling mage, but was interrupted as the demon took its first swing at him. He ducked and rolled out of the way, reaching for his sword as he righted before angrily remembering that it was still resting by his pack, along with the celestial brush.

The demon fully solidified at last in the center of the ring and its figure towered over Kurogane like a mountain, letting out what could have been a growl or very sadistic chuckle.

Kurogane's eye twitched in annoyance.

Evading another attack, Kurogane attempted to maneuver behind the creature, but it was faster than he expected and it kept it distance from him, swinging its long leg in a wide kick. Kurogane had to kiss the sand to keep from being hit and barely managed to roll away before being stomped.

_Dammit, I can't get close_. It wasn't that he had no experience fighting a weaponless battle against demons, but that had been a long time ago and only against the weak demons that inhabited Shinshu Field and Hana Valley before the beast Orochi awoke. Oddly enough, the farther he traveled away from the Moon Cave, the stronger were the demons.

"Kuropuff!" Fai called from safety outside the ring. "If you jumped high enough, you could just hit it in the head!"

Kurogane fell back to avoid another kick. "As if I could jump that high, idiot!"

"But Kuropon _can_ jump that high," Fai insisted, "_if_ he uses his ma~gic!"

"I –ugh!"

Kurogane failed to completely avoid an attack and the tip of the demon's foot caught him across the side. He slammed into the barrier wall, feeling the heat of the curse push at him. The demon leapt, both arms over its head for its finishing attack, but Kurogane dived underneath it just before it crashed to the ground. They whirled to face one another from opposite sides of the cursed ring, regarding the other carefully.

His side would bruise from the kick, no doubt, but it wasn't a debilitating injury. He was more aggravated that he had allowed himself to be distracted by that magical idiot. However, as much as he hated to admit it, Fai was right. The demon's head was certainly its most exposed weak point and the only way he was going to get that high was if he used magic.

Of course, he still hadn't mastered the particular technique needed.

As he continued to dodge the attacks, Kurogane tried to remember Yuuko's only advice: first, gather the magic under foot for the initial jump; then, feel for the peak of the magic and jump again. The first part Kurogane had more or less figured out, but he still had no idea what she meant by "peak of the magic." With a frustrated shout, he applied himself to the first half of the equation and gathered the strange warmth he had come to recognize as his own magic in preparation for the first leap.

He timed his jump to when the demon swung one of its wide kicks, and the push of the magic beneath him was powerful, so much so that it felt as though it were burning into the soles of his feet. Like his attempts at Yuuko's island, he leapt much higher than he would have without the assistance of magic, but the demon, drawn up to its full height, was still too tall for him to land a good blow. Then the heat was gone and Kurogane lost momentum. The demon, not having expected his sudden change in tactic, backed off briefly.

"Kuronip's getting better!"

"Shut up!" Kurogane glared over his shoulder. "You're distracting me! Unless you want to help, go away!"

"But Kurorin doesn't need my help," Fai stated confidently.

The demon resumed the attack and Kurogane dodged until he could find another opening to try the magic-jump again. Though he should have been focused on the fight in front of him, he couldn't help vaguely wondering if he'd eventually be able to move through the air like the mage did or if their magic was too different. He didn't even know what kind of magic the mage was using, but he could instinctively feel that it was different from his own and from that of the witch's magic. When Yuuko used spells, the feeling Kurogane got was fluttery, like having the only flame in a cave full of moths. Fai's magic was like his skin: cold, but somehow soft and not entirely tangible.

Belatedly, Kurogane realized why Yuuko couldn't give him more than "peak of the magic." What he felt in his magic would be different from what she or Fai would feel in their magic.

_Kuromyuu is just so warm._

Kurogane again pushed off the ground with the magic beneath him. Like all the times before, he felt the heat like hanging above a fire, but this time, instead of waiting for the heat to leave, he pushed back against it once he was in the air. To his surprise, he could feel a solid presence under his feet, as though he were still standing on the earth below. As soon as he pushed off the solid magic, it exploded with power, even materialized as deep red flames below him, and it was one magic-assisted jump on top of another.

"Hyuu~! So high!" Fai cheered from below. "Now hit it in the head, Kuropop!"

"I don't need you to tell me that!" Kurogane yelled back, but twisted in the air and brought the heel of his foot down in a heavy strike on the demon's head all the same.

The seal of the demon's strength broke instantly and the beast staggered to the ground. The barrier ring created by the cursed scroll wavered with the loss of the cursed power and then began to disappear as though evaporating. Flowers sprouted from the demon, turning it back into the soil that had been spelled into its body. Kurogane, having landed safely on the ground nearby, watched the scene in arrogant satisfaction.

Fai suddenly appeared at his side and latched onto one arm like a child. "Kuromon did so well!"

"Hey–!" Kurogane swung a clenched fist at the mage, but Fai slipped easily behind him and hung on the other arm, laughing all the while. Kurogane didn't feel the icy chill from Fai like before and wondered if it was because his own magic was still burning through him.

As if to confirm his thoughts, Fai leaned into him and murmured, "Mmm, so warm…"

"Stop it," Kurogane grumbled, shaking the mage away. The anger he felt at having been tricked into a fight with the demon quickly turned into uneasiness at both the mage's strange affections and how nice the cool body felt against his hot and sweaty one.

Fai backed off slightly, but still kept one hand on Kurogane's arm.

"Now you can see the ship!" he said with a bright smile. "That's where you were going, right?"

"Why even bother asking questions when you already know the answer?" Kurogane muttered petulantly.

"I have to return to Sei'An City now, but if Kurosnap needs me again, he can just call for me."

"I never needed you to begin with!" As an afterthought, "What do you mean, 'return to Sei'An City?'"

Fai lifted onto his toes and pressed his cold lips against Kurogane's cheek, laughing when the warrior jolted and dancing out of arm's reach when the retaliatory swing came. "If all goes well under the ocean, come see me when you get to Sei'An City."

Kurogane rubbed at his cheek where the light kiss lingered. "Stop doing as you like! Why did you even bother coming here?"

Magic was starting to swirl around Fai like a trapped wind. Just as he started to disappear within the magic's breath, he winked at Kurogane and encouraged, "Be careful, Kuropeep! Swimming at night can be dangerous. You don't want to drown!"

"Is that supposed to be another one of your stupid predictions?" Kurogane yelled back, but Fai had already disappeared, leaving him alone with ocean once more.

-o-o-o-o-

Aaaand, I'm cutting it off there. Not a good place to quit, but the next bit will fit better with the next chapter – which will come out sooner than this one did! (…I hope…)


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